This blog will now be assimilating into the collective borg that is my primary blog, Generation Cake. In non-Trek speak, I’ll be posting all my thoughts and exercises related to writing on that blog. Although I also talk about food, pop culture, education, and parenting, I will dedicate each Wednesday to writing and/or literature. Please follow me over there. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by.
Amber
As an ardent fan of the Oxford comma, this might be my new favorite grammar joke:
What grammar joke do you love?
I realized that this blog is a year old this month. So much has happened since that first post: publications, contributions, readings, and much writing. Fingers crossed that January 2014 I can reflect on the same types of growth. In honor of the birthday, here’s a repost of that first entry:
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” Stephen King
Aside from my annoyance at his use of ‘a lot,’ I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. King. Since the third grade I have been writing something–stories, novels, really terrible poetry. Yet I have never termed myself a writer. In part, it’s because anytime I tell someone that I write, they tell me about their novel/screenplay/memoir that they have been writing. Then I tell them great and don’t mean it.
One of the fascinating things about writing is that, save educational shortcomings, most people can do it. We can type or scratch out words to make sentences, sentences to make paragraphs, paragraphs to make stories. But as I tell my students, writing is a skill like any art or sport–just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you do it well. The analogy I usually use is baseball (I teach a number of athletes). Most of us, precluding a physical impediment, can throw a ball. But can we throw it repeatedly in the strike zone with high speed and varied pitches? Probably not. There are only a select few who can and even they must train. Just because I throw a ball for my border collie doesn’t make me Jenny Finch. Writing is the same way. Yet one of the mysteries of writing is that a writer can be brilliant and never make the majors, so to speak. On the flip side, a writer can be mediocre and sell millions.
The goal then, from my humble prospective, is to be good. Reading and writing in abundance are key. In addition, to bring the baseball analogy full circle, I impart the immortal words of Crash Davis: “You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance.”
On January 18, 1882, Alan Alexander Milne, better known as A.A. Milne was born to school teacher parents. A writer from an early age, Milne was actually taught at one point by H.G. Wells. The Disnification of his creations have reinterpreted the tone and perspective of Winnie the Pooh; at least once everyone should read Winnie the Pooh as Milne intended. His wry humor shines through–Eeyore is less of a bummer and more of a smart ass.
While Milne would write dozens of other works, the insightful and sweet Pooh remains his literary glory. Why do we love Pooh? Perhaps it is his simplicity and innocence. What about his tolerance for nonsense? Maybe it’s his unabashed willingness to go after what he wants. Or, in the end, it might be the openness of his heart. Whatever the reason, thank you Mr. Milne for giving us a hero that doesn’t age or ever seem trite, even though he is perhaps one of the few sincere characters to do so. Happy Birthday.
Do you love Pooh? Sound off below!
I’ve sure this has been mentioned in a previous post, but I actually trained prior during my undergraduate studies to be an actress. Essentially I needed to spend three years and a great deal of money to realize I would never as good an actress as I am a writer. Such is life, I suppose.
In my high school drama group, one of my directors liked for us to work with Uta Hagen’s Nine Questions. I have come to adore Hagen, in particular her meddling main in Reversal of Fortune (a movie I am fixated on for some reason). Her questions are excellent starting points for the actor or writer wishing to consider character:
While I have come to respect the deceptive simplicity of these questions, I’ll admit when I was thirteen, I spent a week loathing them as I tried to come up with answers for the character I was playing–Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother.
As I writer, I find these interesting things to consider for character work. The last three in particular are useful, both on the page and in my professional life.
Kurt Vonnegut said every character must want something, even if it is just a glass of water.
So what does your character want? Why can’t they have it now/ever? What are they going to do for that glass of water/job/acceptance/girl/victory? Sometimes I think we need to stop and reassess these fundamentals and not just for the protagonist.
Beyond that, what do you want in your career? What stands in your way? And finally, what can/will you do to get what you want? Those first two are probably the easiest to answer. I know for me it’s getting published and eventually being able to earn my living as a writer. Rejection, lack of time, and just odds stand in my way.
With the last question, that’s where things get more complicated. On the basic level, I need to write and submit. More than that, I need to continue to grow as a writer, which is a little less basic. It means reading and revising, working through creative droughts, and pushing myself. Beyond that, it means being self-aware and identifying new ways to get what I want.
So I toil forth, like so many others, because I love it too much not to.
These two ladies are some of my favorite actresses. Monroe, despite her on screen persona, was well-read and actually some strong poetry. Hepburn spoke something like five languages and was a veracious reader. If reading makes a woman dangerous, I’m proud to be part of that trouble-making clan.
Speaking of trouble-makers, I recently had the privilege of watching Pandora’s Box again for a review on Cinefilles. If you haven’t experienced it, I highly recommend it. I also strongly recommend star Louise Brooks’ Lulu in Hollywood. Bad girl image aside, Brooks is a strong writer and her portrait of Hollywood is captivating. Revisiting Pandora’s Box has inspired me to create a new female protagonist who, like Lulu, likes to go to far and to hell with everyone else. Female characters are usually my weakness, so this is a good challenge for me in the new year.
Finally, please take a moment to stop by Writers Haven to read “The Monkey of Versailles,” my non-fiction work about why we should never take ourselves too seriously, no matter how many languages we may read or speak.
One of my great procrastination devices is reading writing blogs. Established writers, novices, amateurs, people with moderate success for questionable reasons, literary magazine blogs–I adore them. My most recent find (thanks to Unmanned Press on FB) is The Biographical Dictionary of Literary Failure. It’s well-written, touching, and a reminder of the almosts that can become the life of a writer.
There was a time when I thought my writer career would be an almost (and it still may end up that way); however, I have begun the practices that might keep the almost at bay.
Five Fantastic Things in 2012
Five Fantastic Things Coming in 2013
